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Topic: Kits on Shapeways (Read 11819 times)

Its a real struggle to find some free time for modelling , but as you can see the X-15D is coming along nicely! :) While it is printable at this stage i prefer to further tweak the model and add more details.

From the US Navy's Naval Ordnance Test Station's "Project Pilot" of 1958, a five-stage, all off-the-shelf solid-fuel motored, air-dropped space launcher. Designed to be dropped from an F4D Skyray in a climb at 41,000 feet, and deliver a 1.05 kilogram satellite (incorporating a crude IR scanner and a transmitter, potentially intended for ground or weather surveillance) into low Earth orbit. launch platform was used.

Most of the test launches, however, failed. And/or exploded. Two launches may have made it into orbit, according to faint signals believed to have received from a downrange station, but this was never confirmed, and the program would be cancelled by the end of 1958.

By modern standards, this rocket (when not exploding) would be enough to put a Cubesat into orbit—very possibly more than that, if a faster and higher flying aircraft was used as a launch platform.

I purchased the EXINT (and a few other pieces) in both White Strong & Flexible and Frosted Extreme Detail, the cheaper option has a rather rough porous like texture and to be honest not worth the effort in cleanup, its worth paying the difference to get the frosted detail material which after a quick scoot of primer is ready for finishing :)